Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that if Pakistan wants to join the ranks of the developed nations, all out resources will have to be utilised to meet the energy requirements and generation of power from alternative resources. He said that like terrorism, the energy crisis is also a big challenge for the country.
He said that the energy problem can be resolved through adopting collective thinking and displaying courage and determination. He said that if solid measures were not taken to cope with the energy crises, Pakistan would always lag behind the developed nations and the dream of progress would never be realised. He said that it was a difficult task but not impossible. He said that despite the lapse of 65 years, no serious effort had been made for resolving the shortage of energy.
He was addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Centre for Energy Research and Development at Kala Shah Kaku Campus of University of Engineering and Technology here on Saturday. Later talking to the media after inauguration and replying to a question asked by a journalist, he asked "there is a research centre in Bahria Town, what kind of research is being made there?" The Chief Minister said that in the Bahria Research Centre everything is fake while the Research Centre Kala Shah Kaku would be helpful in the resolution of the energy crisis.
Chief Minister said that this Centre was only the beginning and it was hoped that experts and students working in the centre would bring forward solid and practicable models for resolving the energy crises. He said that as a nation we should conserve energy and develop alternative resources of generation of power so that the nation could get rid of costly electricity. He said that the metro bus project would be inaugurated tomorrow which would provide comfortable, economical and speedy transport facilities to the people, who would enjoy their journey.
Earlier addressing the function Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif said that there was a need to immediately start work on alternative resources of generation of power to the of energy crises. He said unfortunately the rulers of Islamabad have wasted five precious years of the country due to which it has been plunged in darkness. He said that the Kalabagh Dam should be constructed only when there is a consensus of the four provinces as it has now become a political issue. Therefore, he said, that there was need to work on those projects which are economical and can be implemented immediately. He said that the Bhasha and other dams are good long term projects but side by side work on the hydel option should be started as energy crises promote unemployment and poverty, which fuels extremism and terrorism. He said that immediate attention should be paid to short, medium and long term solutions of energy problems as it is the only way to rid the country of shortage of energy. He said that there is also need to promote public awareness on energy conservation. He said that Allah Almighty has blessed Pakistan with natural resources and energy can also be generated through bagasse and the husk of rice. And added that solar energy is also very important and there are vast opportunities of generation of power with solar energy in Cholistan and other districts of south Punjab. He stated that it was unfortunate that the Punjab government had to import solar channels from China for its Ujala programme as no company produces solar panel in Pakistan. He said that Germany where solar power is extremely low produces 22 thousand megawatt solar energy whereas Pakistan is much behind in this field despite sunlight throughout the year. He said that electricity can also be produced with wind energy as well as by utilising alternative fuel. And that the Thar has the largest reserves of coal while it is also available in Chaghi and Punjab which can be used for generation of power. He said that Pakistan should benefit from these options.
The Chief Minister further said that a huge sum of 60 billion rupees was spent for the installation of power plants at Nandipur and Chichoki Mallian which could produce 950 mega watt electricity but due to inefficiency of rulers of Islamabad these plants have become rusty while lying at the Karachi Port and Chinese engineers have returned disappointed.
It was unfortunate that the circular debt of electricity had exceeded Rs 500 billion including 200 billion rupees in the form of power theft, line losses and corruption and inefficiency. He said that influential persons do not pay electricity bills. He believes that coercive methods should be used to recover electricity bills from them but that requires political courage and determination.